Stuck Pilot Bearing - Tried Everything in FAQ

[Jeff Elliott]

All -

I cannot for the life of me get the pilot bearing out of the crank... I have tried everything in the FAQ:

1. Tried the bread and grease tricks.. It blew out the front of the bearing allowing bread to blow through the bearing
2. I made a slide hammer (see below) - nada
3. I made a longer one - nada
4. Made the carriage bolt puller - it bent the bolt and a 1/4" piece of bar stock - nada

At this point, the only other options I can think of are a) heat up the crank around the bearing with a torch or b) dremel tool and carbide bit to cut it out.

Any other options I should consider or do you recommend a or b above??


Front of blown out bearing:

Slide hammer:

Carriage bolt puller... note the bent bar stock and bent carriage head:

 

[ferg]

Small weld bead on remaining race. Race will shrink. Mig works for this.

 

[Jeff Elliott]

Small weld bead on remaining race. Race will shrink. Mig works for this.

Bearing is still intact minus the front cover... here's a pic (note the bread and marine grease protruding from the bearing!)

 

[stoshzack]

I used this with good results:

Slide Hammer and Bearing Puller Set 5 Pc

Only bad thing is it will set you back $54 with 20% coupon.

 

[John McVicker]

The bread trick will work. If you put enough bread in there AND get the proper size dowel to hammer it home, it will come out or at least move enough so you can maneuver it out. 2 & 2 is four.

 

[emac]

Three-Jaw Pilot Bearing Puller

maybe this will work.

 

[74HogGuy]

Three-Jaw Pilot Bearing Puller

maybe this will work.

2nd this. I used this after my bearing exploded trying to get it out only leaving the race. Took like 30'seconds to get it out with this.

 

[fjfodee]

I had one come apart and left only the outer race still in the crank. Had to make several cuts with a dremel and still had issues getting it out. It had basically welded itself in there. Good luck.

 

[shawnfj40]

The trick with bread or grease is, the rod or dowel has to be very tight and you have slam it about twice as hard as you are going to want to. If you tap it it's just gonna ooze out.

 

[jm599]

I would weld a large thick washer on the bearing then if grease/dowel trick wouldn't push it out, would weld a large bolt or a pipe to the washer and start banging.

 

[tyama]

hiya, I would get a bigger carriage bolt & do it again. 1/4" is kinda small. You might need to cut a part of the head off to get a bigger one to fit. Also, I would put a socket between the nut/bar & the pilot bearing so the bearing has somewhere to pull out to. oh yeah, slapping some ed's red overnight on it might help loosen it up.

good luck,
ty

 

[Mr Cimarron]

HF slide hammer did the job in 1 minute after a full day of grease/bread/other home made contraptions. I felt like a complete idiot using bread. I thought I was being pranked.

 

[Jeff Elliott]

VICTORYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!

The HF Puller as mentioned by @stoshzack did the trick! Slide Hammer and Bearing Puller Set 5 Pc

However, a word of caution to future users... When standing in the hump area and operating the slide hammer either a) stand sideways and / or b) wear a cup - I'm gonna be singing soprano for a bit.

Thanks to all!
Jeff

 

[Steamer]

I believe all pilot bearings get stuck at various degrees of grip and I feel mine was at the end of the scale. I turned down a dowel on the lathe and pounded away with bread and grease till the innards blew out. Then I ripped the heads of a half dozen carriage bolts with several homemade tools. I then borrowed a Snap-On slide hammer from work and pounded till I destroyed the jaws. Finally I used a smoke wrench and burnt it out.
Congrats on getting yours out. Hopefully your voice returns to normal soon.

 

[wngrog]

Jeff. Get a good two arm slide hammer.

I took my arms and ground them down to have sharper teeth. I then use wrenches to tighten them until they literally won't spend any farther.

Hammer home.

 

[Cruiserdrew]

That HF 3 arm puller has worked for me a bunch of times. But, you need to grind down the business end a bit. But once locked in, that bearing is coming out!

 

[Dynosoar]

Snap On Pilot bearing puller. Hands down the BEST tool for the job. Has never failed and works in a tight spot (no knuckle (or nut) busting.

 

[Boaf 32]

Snap On Pilot bearing puller. Hands down the BEST tool for the job. Has never failed and works in a tight spot (no knuckle (or nut) busting.View attachment 1525103

Dynosaur,

I have a tool just like this and unfortunately, it is not doing the job. I've used it before successfully. tore off the top on my Pilot in the land cruiser. Anyway, gonna try something else. Not sure the bread and grease thing will work. It is in there so tight.

Boaf

 

[lcwizard]

Snap On Pilot bearing puller. Hands down the BEST tool for the job. Has never failed and works in a tight spot (no knuckle (or nut) busting.View attachment 1525103

unfortunately the Snap On pullers and slide hammers seem to be the best. Snap on makes a small slide hammer that is the only thing I've been able to use with complete success on the little roller bearing between the front and rear output of the FJ40 T-case.
It seems the jaws on all the others just give up the ghost when abused. They aren't cheap

 

[emac]

Snap On Pilot bearing puller. Hands down the BEST tool for the job. Has never failed and works in a tight spot (no knuckle (or nut) busting.View attachment 1525103

Where does the bread go?

I guess the bread goes to Snap on !!